Feminism: The Women's Liberation Movement

The term feminism is considered a controversial issue once it may be impossible to give it an accurate definition . This definition will be better or further defined as claimed by its historical origins and development . The term feminism originated from the French word “ feminisme” made up by the utopian socialist Charles Fourier . In 1890s , the term was first used in English in association with the movement for equal political and legal rights for women . The term feminism was pinned down through three waves of feminist thought and activity :

a. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries , the fundamental focus was to gain the women’s legal rights , political and their right to vote in political elections .

b. In the 1960s and

Starting from the ‘ second wave ‘ of the Women’s Movement which was known as the Women’s Liberation Movement ( WLV ) – began in the late 1960s and the 1970s – was a time of feminist protest in many Western countries . Women at that time were entailing situated notions such as “ being anti-men “ and “ gender equality “ have been taken on board by aid agencies and organizations

There were various women who used strong and forceful language to reflect their thoughts such as the American feminist Robin Morgan ( 1968 ) while stating that “ The very semantics of the language reflect [ women’s] condition . We do not have our own names , but bear that of the father until exchange it for that of the husband” ( 1977:106) . Also , Emily Toth who was railing against “ one-man tents “ , and Germaine Greer (1972) has noticed that how “ terms of endearment “ for women are also terms for food like ‘ honey’ and ‘ sweetie ‘ . The English language was said to ‘define , degrade and stereotype ‘ women as through some lexical items such as ‘ Mrs/ Miss ‘ , ‘ son-of-a-bitch’ and ‘manageress’ , and through ‘ generics’ ‘ he’ and ‘ man ‘ .

Accordingly , ‘ sexist language ‘ was an assumption that led to the adoption or creation of alternative linguistic items . For example , ‘ Ms ‘ as a title for women who are married or not ; ‘ manager ‘ , ‘ spokesperson ‘ , and ‘ chairman ‘ to refer to both women and men . Also ‘ he or she ‘ and ‘ s/he’ to avoid the ‘ masculine bias ‘ of the ‘ generic he ‘